Slots parlor developers interested in Worcester's central location

WORCESTER -- Developers seeking the sole slot machine facility license in Massachusetts met with Worcester city officials Wednesday to detail their plan for a reported $200 million gaming facility on the Wyman-Gordon property on Madison Street, according to The Worcester Telegram & Gazette*.

Executives from Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming LLC told the Telegram & Gazette the gaming facility would include 1,250 slots machines -- the maximum allowed by state law -- in a 120,000-square-foot building. The building is also reported to house two restaurants, a bar, a food court and a possible day spa.

Along with the slots parlor — but in a different location — Hotel developer Richard L. Friedman of Cambridge told the Telegram & Gazette that he wants to build a "$40 million full-service hotel with 150 to 200 guest rooms, ample meeting space, restaurants and a ballroom." The hotel plans are contingent on the slots parlor casino being built, according to reports, but it would be built in a different location.

According to the Telegram & Gazette, the slots project and the upscale hotel projects in the downtown area could add 600 jobs to the local economy. The slots parlor reportedly would employ up to 450 people -- positions ranging from cashiers to bartenders to tech professionals. The hotel would employ another 150 to 250 people if built.

Neil G. Bluhm, chairman of Rush Street Gaming, which created subsidiary, Mass Gaming and Entertainment LLC to handle the slots parlor project in Worcester, has developed hotels and shopping centers. Recently he began developing casinos. Rush Street Gaming's first casino project was built in 2004 on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Bluhm then opened casinos in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia as well as Des Plaines, Ill.

He told the Telegram & Gazette he was drawn to Worcester’s central location in the state. He also told the paper a slot parlor would fit well with the Canal District and that the building would be made of brick and glass and have natural light, which is uncommon in casinos. The building would be inspired by the architecture of 19th century mills.

Rush Street Gaming executives told the Telegram & Gazette they plan to return to Worcester for a public meeting in the next few weeks.